PASADENA, Calif. -- Netflix says it will make a special effort to produce programming for children and families, with the streaming service offering 20 new programs in the category this year led by the Feb.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, said Sunday that there's not enough of this programming on traditional TV right now. The emphasis also coincides with Netflix's broadening subscriber base -- it's more than 19-year-old boys clicking onto the service now.

The streaming service is in only its fourth season of making original content with deep pockets that have made traditional TV networks envious. Sarandos, who said Netflix will spend $5 billion on content this year, aggressively fought back against recent criticism from rivals.

The remake of the popular "Full House" is highly anticipated. The network on Friday also made available new episodes of the teen-focused series "Degrassi." Jim Henson's company is making "Word Party," a show for preschoolers, and "Lost & Found Music Studios," premiering in April, is about striving teenage musicians. Also in April, the animated "Kong: King of the Apes" will update the King Kong series.

"The Get Down," a series starting this summer about the formative days of rap music, could appeal to both youngsters and their parents.

Netflix said it has 43 million subscribers in the United States, or more than a third of households with television, and 70 million worldwide. It has steadfastly refused to detail how many people watch their original programs, leading a rival to try and pull back the curtain this week.

NBC researchers said they used audio measurements from Symphony Advanced Media to estimate viewership for some Netflix programs. For instance, NBC said the comedy "Master of None" was seen 3.9 million times by viewers ages 18-to-49 over a 35-day period, while "Marvel's Jessica Jones" had 4.8 million youthful viewers during the same stretch of time. NBC argued this meant Netflix wasn't a serious threat to its business.

Sarandos said NBC released "remarkably inaccurate data that does not reflect any reality that we track," and said Netflix doesn't measure viewership in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. He said NBC probably took the time to talk about Netflix "because it's more fun than talking about NBC's ratings."

He did not, however, release any specific data to dispute what NBC said.

One thing not in Netflix's immediate future: live programming, including news or sports. While Netflix has the technical ability to deliver live programming, it would muddle the company's chief marketing message that viewers can watch whatever they want whenever they want.

Sarandos also needled John Landgraf, CEO of the FX Networks, who complained Saturday of Netflix's big programming budget and has suggested that there are too many television shows being made for consumers to get a grip on.

"Is there too much TV?" Sarandos asked. "We don't think there's too much TV, and if there is too much TV, somebody else has to slow down."

Advertisements

Latest Economic News

TORONTO -- Southern Ontario steelmaker Stelco is seeking court approval to move forward with its restructuring following an agreement with Bedrock Industries. Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said in a statement Friday that Bedrock's proposal would mean that operations at the Hamilton and Lake Erie facilities would continue and 2,100 jobs would be preserved.
Source

HAVANA -- Google and the Cuban government have struck a deal giving Cubans faster access to the internet giant's content, two people familiar with the agreement said Friday. Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google's parent company, will formally sign the deal Monday morning in Havana, the two people said.
Source

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is going ahead with plans to move small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico despite President-elect Donald Trump's recent threats to impose tariffs on companies that move work abroad. CEO Mark Fields said Ford's plan to move production of the Ford Focus from Michigan to Mexico will proceed, in part because U.S.
Source

Major New York stock indexes hit a second consecutive day of record highs while the Toronto stock market continued its six-day rise, continuing a post-U.S. election rally.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average recorded its third consecutive record-breaking day, advancing 142.04 points to 19,756.85.
Source

Sales of Crown drilling rights in Alberta have fallen to their lowest levels in 39 years.
Statistics posted on the Alberta Energy website this week, following the last auction of 2016, show that oil and gas producers paid $137 million this year for the right to drill oil and gas wells on land where the province owns the mineral rights.
Source

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Gary Cohn, the No. 2 executive at the powerhouse Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, to a prominent White House economic post. That's according to two people informed of the decision.
Source

WASHINGTON -- In the heat of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump accused primary rival Ted Cruz of being controlled by Goldman Sachs because his wife, Heidi, previously worked for the Wall Street giant. He slammed Hillary Clinton for receiving speaking fees from the bank.
Source

Digital advertising will continue to outstrip other media forms this year and next when it comes to bringing in ad dollars, according to a new forecast from media buying company GroupM.
Internet advertising is projected to the grow by 18 per cent year-over-year in 2016, and by 15 per cent next year, the New York-based firm said.
Source

The American coffee chain, which aims to open 12,000 new outlets worldwide by 2021, is embarking on a whole new culinary adventure in 2017, branching out from coffee to pizza. As well as serving ethically sourced coffee and a host of other hot and cold drinks and snacks, Starbucks -- which aims to increase its global sales outlets by 50 per cent -- is now planning to open a line of standalone Italian bakeries.
Source

The maker of Ski-Doos, personal watercraft and off-road vehicles says it will maintain low-cost production in Mexico even if Donald Trump withdraws from NAFTA.
BRP Inc. says it expects to take a $20-million to $25-million hit if tariffs are restored on more than $1 billion of goods traded annually between Mexico and the United States.
Source